Vaughn Albern
Personality & Traits General Overview Albern is an intelligent and gifted engineer, a solid tactician, and unorthodox Starfleet Officer. He does his best to be affable and approachable while still maintaining to his best ability that necessary degree of professional separation. He is a consummate tinkerer and may often seem 'lost in thought' while he works through problems. Under pressure he does his best to project a feeling of calm, confidence, and being in control while he brings to bear the mass of his intellect to 'work the problem' wither it be a tactical situation, engineering problem, or a cocktail. He uses formality and protocol more as tactics and tools to be employed to gain advantage than as strict social rules and guidelines in place at all times. Thus he often breaks convention when he believes it the right thing to do while at other times may strictly enforce it. Strengths & Weaknesses Strengths - He is confident in his knowledge and ability to solve problems; he delights in learning; can adapt readily to circumstances and situations unforeseen; is a meticulous and methodical planner and executor; and he has a personal and moral courage to do what he thinks is right without hesitation. He can see both the orthodox and the unorthodox and can blend the two into a solution that works. Weaknesses - His confidence can broach into arrogance when he forgets his limitations; he can lack patience, especially with taxing people or situations; his methodical nature can lead him to distraction easily; and his courage can at times be death wish grade reckless. His epicurean nature can lead him into all manor of trouble, especially with booze, women, and Starfleet Regulations, while his temper can betray him when it flares up. Ambitions Unlike many other 'typical' Starfleet officers, Albern doesn't limit his ambitions to Captaining a starship. He has found he immensely enjoys exercising command over a fleet of warships, and finds it suited to his temperament extremely well. Professionally he has the desire to see Starfleet take it's place as a respected and 'not to be trifled with' military force and believes that the military mission of Starfleet should be as important as the Exploration, Engineering, and Humanitarian missions. Privately Albern has strong desires to have his own far flung outpost, somewhere with a gas giant with impressive rings within day or night view, and wherein he can build his own dream 'habitat' to retire into, and space aplenty to tinker with all the things he's never had time or space to do before. Hobbies & Interests Vaughn has a deep love and respect for what he calls “The Long and Proud Martial Traditions of the Human Race.” Though being an engineer at heart, his martial study is almost entirely upon the technologies of war and their design. His particular passion is naval architecture past present and future, and often is seen reading technical readouts of existing historical or modern ships to designing his own. (He has a design he is particularly proud of for a “Dreadnaught” era battlecruiser and keeps a 3-D holo model of it in his quarters.) He also is afflicted with the engineer's need to tinker with things, and keeps several containers of odds and ends things he decided should, could, or 'might' work better with some adjustment. Most turn out to be things that don't work as intended, but Vaughn will never consider them a failure because “they teach me something about how they work, and how they want to work, so I can adjust how I think they should work.” Vaughn also has a distinct and at times pronounced interest in the opposite sex. Languages Federation Standard Universal Mathematical and Applied Scientific (Treaty of Gra'kor Revised) Vulcan Scientific Technical Romulan New Standard Mathematical and Mechanical Klingon Forge Secret Symbol Cardassian Engineering and Theoretical Abridged (Basically he can read and write Engineering/Technical Schematics using 5 different methods) Family Father: Joseph Henry Albern Mother: Elizabeth Allison Albern Spouse: Koskla Dpoda [[Moki Taru|''Moki Lea Taru (Ex)]] ''Kaitlyn "Vex" Albern (Ex) Biography Albern was born on Grayson Colony, a small dreary and utterly unimportant, unexciting, and boring mining colony world. His father was a Search and Rescue team Captain aboard the U.S.S. Pavelow and received several citations for conspicuous gallantry in the Dominion Wars. His mother a science teacher with a panache for physics. The Alberns chose Grayson as their home and place to raise their family in the wake of the Dominion war in a place that had neither strategic, nor military value, to ensure a safe environment now and in the future. Albern's father in particular was very adamant about the life his family would lead, often known for saying “I fought my war so my sons wouldn't have to.” Albern quickly grew restless and dissatisfied with Grayson and it's monotonous life, often times calling it “The great Federation Dystopia in it's most pure and mind bleaching form.” And used a Starfleet enlistment to 'escape far far away'. Vaughn's enlistment caused a great deal of conflict within the family, his mother supporting her son's choice, while his father was adamantly against it. This conflict was to resurface again after the O'Bannon incident in which Vaughn was severely injured and suffering from exposure to a rare form of naturally occurring Thalaron radiation. The Radiation poisoning created a number of chronic medical problems that Albern will suffer from for most of his life, though advanced and experimental therapies have removed the worst effects and improved Albern's long term prognosis. Education Bachelor of Science: Astronautical Engineering, The Ohio State University: Columbus Campus. Technical Certification: Damage Control (Advanced), Starfleet Enlisted Technical School. Technical Certification: Weapon Maintenance (Advanced), Starfleet Enlisted Technical School. Masters of Science: Diagnostic Engineering, Starfleet Academy, Officer Training Program Bachelor of Philosophy: Command Theory, Starfleet Advanced Tactical Command School. Masters of Philosophy: Dynamic Combat Theory, Imperial Institute of War (Andoria). Service Record Albern started his Starfleet Career as an enlisted Engineering Tech, specializing in Diagnostics and Damage Control. Assigned to various technical postings through the Space Docks and Shipyards of the SCE, where he worked primarily on damage assessment and refit/repair crews. Albern was considered a highly competent Tech, but lackluster Crewman often cited for 'sloppy' discipline and failing to meet grooming and uniform standards. He requested and eventually received transfer to shipboard duty, being assigned as a Senior Flight Engineering Tech for Survey Runabouts tasked to be used aboard the Miranda Class Vessel: USS O'Bannon. The O'Bannon was destroyed when it encountered a rogue Gregor Filament Anomaly during a survey mission into the Eridan Belt. He was cited for 'conspicuous service in the best traditions of Starfleet' for saving a number of his fellow crewmen despite being severely irradiated by the Filament. While recovering on Medical leave from radiation poisoning (something technically he is still recovering from), Albern was recommended for and accepted into the Officer Training Course at Starfleet Academy (a program for Enlisted personnel to earn a chance at an officer's commission) because of his actions in the O'Bannon incident. Albern completed the two year course with a basically lackluster performance (and a remarkably high number of demerits) but still met the requirements for graduation as both an Engineering and Command officer. He was commissioned an Engineering Ensign, and offered a post as part of a new SCE spacedock and repair facility R and D task force. Albern declined the posting, repeatedly requested service aboard ships. "I didn't want to be stuck behind a desk playing with holomodels of things that might never come to exist, having to justify designs to people who had no idea what they would be for: I wanted to be in space, I wanted to be where you could make a differance". Vaughn was assigned thereafter to a number of distinctly unprestigious postings, including several tours as an exchange 'safety' officer to several Federation Merchant Marine vessels operating in Tellerite space; and a long stint with the 907th logistics wing who operated supply and tanker ships for the forward deployed elements of the Fleet. Again, Vaughn's fitness reports typified his capabilities as an excellent engineer, but otherwise lackluster officer. Promoted (with conditions) to Lieutenant, Vaughn was assigned as a Damage Control Officer aboard the USS Pensacola, an aging Akira Class Escort. It was while serving aboard Pensacola that he was awarded his second conspicuous service decoration. USS Pensacola was moored at space dock above Antares 12 for an extensive refit and repair cycle, with only a skeleton Station Keeping Crew aboard. Albern was the senior officer aboard when an unexpected and severe ion storm developed. Lt Albern and several other members of his watch crew were able to get Pensacola under power and underway in order to ride out the worst of the storm, then repeated the effort with three other starships. 'Albern used his knowledge and insight as an Engineer to react to the crisis at hand, rather than attempting to establish contact with superior officers and request instructions. Albern on his own initiative, and indeed on his own authority, acted to fulfill his duty to protect his Ship, and the higher duty to Starfleet to ensure the safety of those ships and their crews around him. This action amply demonstrates again that Albern shows poise and character in the midst of crisis, with a clear ability to think and react in high stress situations and to exercise sound judgment. It is unfortunate that he only shows such extraordinary virtue as an officer in midst of such crisis, while in the the mundane routine of duty he returns to mediocrity.' - ''FitRep 187, Cmdr Lockheart on V.J. Albern after Antares 12 Storm. Vaughn was promoted to Lt Commander and transferred to USS Huginn, a Defiant Class vessel, to serve as Chief Engineer three months before war broke out with the Klingon Empire. Huginn was part of the ill fated Task Force Echo 23 meant as a pre-war show of force to deter Klingon aggression, the task force was decimated in the first hours of the Archanis invasion, and effectively destroyed within 48. ''Huginn was trapped (and presumed lost) behind enemy lines for almost three months before the ship returned, all be it circumspectly and heavily damaged, to Federation controlled space. Albern was the senior surviving officer and had assumed command. Brevetted in the field to Commander, Albern was retained (with conditions) in command of Huginn for operation Redhorse, a mission aimed to slow down the Klingon Advance while the 7th Fleet regrouped, refitted, and redeployed to 'stablize' the rapidly deteriorating and changing front. Redhorse was meant to last for two weeks, but reality punctuated by poor operational planning stretched it into a campaign of nearly 6 months. At the end of the operation, Albern assessed USS Huginn to be damaged far beyond economical or feasible repair, and requested she be decommissioned. The SCE evaluated the ship and concurred with the assessment. Albern was brought before a board of special review concerning the actions of USS Huginn during the initial invasion and operation Redhorse, where in Albern started a controversy by laying down a scathing inditement of the operational planning and the Flag Command of both operations. At the end of the official review; Albern was reprimanded for insubordination, promoted to full Commander (no conditions), and was defered from further starship command until a 'command fitness qualifcation' was undertaken. Albern was transfered to the SCE orbital docks and repair command, and assigned as a chief repair and refitting officer assigned to work on severely damaged ships believed to be too heavily damaged for conventional repair. The “Dock of Special Services” as it was called handled the worst of the worst in the hopes of eventually returning ships to service without wasting unnecessary time and effort in the standard yards. He again was recognized for his exceptional engineering capabilities, including inventing several new repair techniques that have since become standardized and taught as required learning for Engineering Crews. In this time, several high damage ships were refitted with new concept SCE technology. While many ships were refitted with only one or two new tech pieces to be field tested, several ships received compete refits with more than 50% new concept tech combined with non standard configurations of legacy tech. Since many of these designs were built around non standard tactical and engineering theory and many Captains were reluctant to take such 'ideas' and test them in 'real' combat for the first time, or lacked the proper technical backgrounds to be eligable to command them. Albern applied for, and was accepted into the command officer pool for such SCE expermental ships, passed the qualifcation for command examinations, and on November 14, 2409 was given command of the Maelstrom Class Escort: USS Osprey (then NX–97471) and assigned to Battle Group Omega. After successful engagements with the Borg in relief of the Vega Colony, and a tour of duty in the Gamma Orionis Sector, Osprey and Albern were assigned to the Epsilon Deep Space Exploration Fleet. >>> Further Access to Service Brief Requires Authorization from 8th Expeditionary Task Force Operations Command <<< Category:Federation Characters